Profile Evaluation Request !

Question

1. GMAT 700 Q49/V36/AWA-6.0/IR-7..

2. B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Manipal University (Top 10) - 7.6/10 CGPA (Not sure how this scales on a 4-point) 90% in 10th and 78% in 12 (Both CBSE)

3. Top 10% in academics and top 1% co-curricular-wise (Graduating class of 1700 students)

4. Work Experience - Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. (July '13 - Current)

Working at THCM(60:40 Joint venture of the Hitachi and TATA Groups) since July 2013 after being selected as one of 14 Graduate Engineer Trainees from a nationwide pool of approx 6000 applicants. Currently handling the portfolio of Sales and Marketing - Strategic Markets and Key Accounts - North Karnataka (approx. 100,000 sq. km. and 30 mil population) I have joined this office after completing my in-plant training (July-October '13) and have been responsible for improving the market share in my segment from 41 to 85% over the last 5 months, whilst contributing to an overall market share growth of 11 %. Direct revenue generated - approx. $5 mil. I also lead a team of dealer sales executives (11 individuals) in my territory and conceptualize & implement promotional activities, and carry out opportunity & prospect evaluation, competition comparison studies, product evaluation and field trials in addition to my core tasks.

5. Selected for and attending Stanford GSB's SIGM program - June '14.

6. Internship 1 - Motorsport Engineer with Volkswagen Motorsport (6 months)

For my final semester I was taken onboard by Volkswagen Motorsport team working on the POLO R Cup, a single manufacturer racing series that takes place in locations across the country. I worked in the design and prototyping teams for the 2013 build. Once the build had been approved, I was part of the 3-man team responsible for the thorough testing and certification of the new build by the Federation of Motorsport Clubs of India. Various other sub-projects including creating technical documentations for the gearbox of the proto-build. Offered and declined a permanent position at the end of my tenure.

6. Internship 2 - Systems Analyst (Intern) - Jaguar Land Rover & Tata Motors (3 months)

Carried out Kaizen and TBM productivity assignments on the Jaguar XXXXXXX at Tata Motors's Pune Unit alongside minor assignments on:
1) Cycle-Time and cost reduction in a XXXXXX weld-assembly line.
2) Fixture Optimization and Operator Ergonomics Analysis on the XXXXXXXXXXXX Assembly Line

7. Internship 3 - Production Intern - Tata Motors (Passenger Car Business Unit) (3 months)

Summer Intern at Tata Motors PCBU, Pune. Work included intensive study on the press shop floor and the main assembly line studying the impact of proposed higher degrees of automation on the production line, in addition to a report on Spares Inventory Optimization in the Press shop.

8. Internship 4 - Industrial Intern - Indo-Danish Tool Room (2 months)

Certifications and training in various Product Lifecycle Management tools, design and analysis applications.

9. Co-Curricular 1 - Team Captain - Team Manipal Racing (3 years)

Initially joining as a structural engineer in my junior year at college, I rose to be the team principal of Manipal Unviersity's official Off-Road Racing team. Funded entirely by sponsorships ( 21 sponsors - Tata Group, Sahara Force India F1 team, Reliance Industries, Vodafone notably) the budget of the project was approx. $ 200,000.

I led the team of 31 students to successfully participate in the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) BAJA USA 2012 competition at Madison, Wisconsin. TMR became the best performing Asian team in the event's history. I was the primary driver for the competition. A year later, the same vehicle was entered in SAE BAJA India at Indore where the team won an award for best safety features and build quality apart from finishing in the top 5 in every other category.

10. Co-Curricular - 2 - Mechanical Head - IEEE (2 years)

A senior committee member of IEEE and ex-head of IEEE Manipal's Mechanical Division, successfully conceptualized and carried out a number of research projects, workshops, projects and competitions for the Technical Resource Team (8 members) which was then raised to a seat on the IEEE steering committee.

11. Volunteer work:

1) Classroom instructor for the underprivileged as part of Tata Hitachi's Corporate Social Resposibilty initiative.
2) USAID Volunteer for vaccination programs in rural India.
(I have a few other citations as well)

12. Extracurriculars

State and Zonal General Quizzing champion at high school. State U-16 Badminton team, U-15 district cricket and School Table-Tennis and badminton teams.

13. Citations,Recommendations and Letters of Introduction:

1) CEO and Managing Director Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Co.
2) Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India, Volkswagen GmbH
3) Area Manager, North Karnataka, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Co.
4) National Head, Excavators, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Co.(ex-ISB)
3) Director, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal University
4) Project Coordinator and Technical Head, Volkswagen Motorsport
5) Head of Department, Mechanical Engineering, Manipal University
6) Head of Department, Automobile and Aeronautical Engineering, Manipal University

Dream Schools:

1) Stanford GSB
2) Harvard
3) Wharton
3) MIT, Sloan
4) Chicago - Booth
5) NYU - Stern
6) Columbia
7) Dartmouth

Would really appreciate if someone can provide an evaluation of my candidacy for applications to the classes of 2017 i.e. R1-2015, R2-2015.

P.S. Thanks for taking the time to read through that !!

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CindyTAccepted · Answer

Hello,

You’ve got many strengths that go a long way toward differentiating you among the  over-represented group  of Indians with a tech background. Your academics look quite sound, but more importantly your work experience is stellar. Extracurriculars are interesting as well, though that is less of a factor. The weakest component is the GMAT score, relatively low for your demographic.

I do think that for Stanford and HBS, you would need to raise the GMAT to 730+ be a truly competitive applicant. Without doing so, they would be very high reasonable reaches, perhaps unrealistic. I might say the same for Columbia as well, as it has tended to put more emphasis on a high GMAT (I’ve seen waitlisted applicants at Columbia with a 700 be advised by the adcom to raise the score to improve their candidacy). I believe that the other programs would be reasonable reaches (assuming  stellar applications ) of varying degrees. That said, raising the GMAT, if possible, would help a great deal with them too.

siddharthsid007 · Answer

Hi Cindy, Thanks for the reply, Thanks for the reply! I agree with your view on the GMAT score, I already have another date coming up on the 27th! I was constantly averaging around 750-770 in prep so am hopeful I can improve it. Unfamiliar surroundings, nervousness and fatigue towards the end played a part in my first attempt. I bungled the Verbal towards the end, probably got 3 of the last 5 questions wrong which dipped the score to 36 while my prep scores were around 40-44. Working on my time management and a few other areas for the 2nd attempt so am hopeful to raise it by atleast 20-30 points (fingers crossed ! ). Is there any harm to one's application if one retests ? Would appreciate your assessment on whether I should apply this year for admission in 2015 or wait? I've had mixed feedback from the others I have spoken to. Personally, I feel I have taken pretty much all that is on offer at my present position and all I'm doing now is building up the "numbers" (so to speak). I'll be attending the Stanford GSB SIGM program from June to July end. I'm hoping that experience, apart from all the learning etc., will also help me with my GSB full-time application writing process. (Coincidentally, the SIGM application had the same 3 essay questions as the full-time program

) I've drawn a tentative list of colleges after considering safeties etc as below : 1) Stanford GSB (Round 1 / Fellowship Application) 2) Columbia Business School (Round 1) 3) Berkeley- Haas (Round 1) 4) Ross - U Mich/Fuqua (Round 2) 5) NYU Stern (Round 2) 6) ISB - Hyderabad (N/A, single application deadline) 7) NUS - Singapore (Round 1)/INSEAD-Singapore (Round 1) It still needs some firming up, would appreciate your suggestions and any other feedback that you might have.

siddharthsid007 · Answer

Hi Cindy,

I just gave the GMAT again today and here's my score:

IR=8/8
AWA = Not available yet (Expecting a 6, hopefully)
Quant = 50
Verbal = 40
Total = 740

Thoughts ?

Best
Sid

CindyTAccepted · Answer

Good luck with the next GMAT! As for waiting for a year, if you do raise your GMAT a bit, I don't see much upside. Applying this year, with a great application you might get in, and worst case, you'd just reapply next cycle. It's not a negative factor to be a reapplicant if it came to that (except for INSEAD, which you haven't mentioned).

siddharthsid007 · Answer

Dear Cindy,

That 740 is my latest GMAT score. I gave the GMAT for the second time on 27/5/2014. You reckon I need to give it again ?? (BTW, my officials scores are out and the essay is a 6 too !

Best
Sid

CindyTAccepted · Answer

Congratulations on the improved GMAT! You're set to go --

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